The Beeb’s Occupied by Gaza

Fact: Since the 2005 disengagement, there are no Israelis in Gaza — except for Gilad Shalit.

Fact: Egypt’s new government isn’t cooperating with Israel on the Gaza blockade.

Fact: Hamas, which rules Gaza, is an equal partner with Fatah in the running the Palestinian Authority.

Fact: There is a parallel world perversely called Planet BBC, which exists as a separate reality, a place where Gaza mysteriously remains under Israeli occupation. From what planet did the BBC produce this map?

What is wrong with the map? While Israel does not occupy Gaza in the sense of having people there, they partially control it by controlling its borders. I dont know what the right terminology for describing Gaza is…under siege, maybe? Is it Palestine, maybe? It has to be something. What do you think the proper description of Gaza should be?

Egypt is looking the other way as far as tunnels are concerned but dont have an open border with Gaza.

In the same way you can say that Israel occupies Jordan, since it “partially controls” its borders. Israel has no control over the border between Gaza and Egypt, regardless of it being open or not. This is their problem, not Israel’s.

Surely all countries partially control their borders, in concert with the country on the other side of the border. Thus the USA partially control their border with Mexico, South Korea partially control their border with North Korea etc. etc. etc. Israel have no control over Egypt’s border with Gaza and to claim otherwise is disingenuous.